1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to endotracheal tubes of the type having an auxiliary lumen. More particularly, it relates to a connector therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,759 to the present inventor discloses an endotracheal tube having an auxiliary lumen integrally formed therewith along the extent thereof.
Due to the close spacing of the auxiliary lumen and the main endotracheal tube, connection of the auxiliary lumen to preselected auxiliary equipment and connection of the main endotracheal tube to a supply source for the gaseous fluids to be administered to the patient is problematic. Note that a total of four items must be interconnected, i.e., the auxiliary equipment must be connected to the auxiliary lumen, and the supply source of the gas must be connected to the main endotracheal tube. The connector currently in use is designed to interconnect the proximal end of the main endotracheal tube and the distal end of a tube from said anesthesia supply source; no means are provided for interconnecting the auxiliary equipment and the auxiliary lumen. Thus, the proximal end of the auxiliary lumen merely abuts the connector when the proximal end of the endotracheal tube is connected to said connector. This results in a very unsatisfactory interconnection of the auxiliary equipment and the auxiliary lumen; the connector at the distal end of the tubing extending from the auxiliary equipment is brought around the endotracheal tube connector and brought into connection with the proximal end of the auxiliary lumen. A sharp bend must be formed where the tubing from the auxiliary equipment meets the proximal end of the auxiliary lumen, resulting in an unacceptable constriction. Moreover, this arrangement requires the use of two separate connectors. Since connectors are bulky, each connector interferes with the other when the various tubes are interconnected.
In the above-referenced patent, this problem was overcome by making the auxiliary lumen substantially shorter than the main endotracheal tube so that the bend could be more gradual, thereby eliminating the constriction. However, this was unsatisfactory for other reasons. Specifically, the main endotracheal tube and auxiliary lumen are best constructed as a single unit. Thus, the manufacturing process is simpler and thus more cost effective if the main endotracheal tube and the auxiliary tube have a common length. Truncating the auxiliary lumen so that its proximal end is remote from the main connector thus drives up the manufacturing costs associated with the patented item. Moreover, shortening of the lumen still requires use of two connectors.
What is needed, then, is a way to interconnect the lumen and the main tube to their respective pieces of equipment with a single connector and in the absence of sharp bends or truncated lumens. However, at the time the present invention was made, the prior art, when considered as a whole as required by law, neither taught nor suggested to those of ordinary skill in this field how the extant problems could be resolved.